text:
Push the Fader Radio – Season of Versions September 2012
*You can download every Push the Fader Radio Podcast on iTunes for free by subscribing here
More than a few people know I have a thing for cover versions. Both subscribers of the podcast and party goers alike know that I always like to keep a fresh batch of alternate versions in my bag.
After years of moving dance floors with songs that have become certified classics, new interpretations are breaths of fresh air. When a cover is so well done that it can stand up to the original, that's a piece of gold.
This month's Push the Fader Radio podcast highlights some of those versions. Songs that nod to the past, with an updated flavor. Perfect timing in my mind, as we make that transition from Summer to Fall and the season eases us in. In NYC it's not cold yet, trails of the familiar summer are still there, but a little different. It's almost like a seasonal cover or interpretation during this period.
Seasons change, mad things rearrange…
DJ Center – Push the Fader Radio | Season of Versions | September 2012 (Download)
For Complete tracklisting –
Read more →


text:
Two Years Ago - Deepwater Horizon |
The oil addiction problem for civilization is a great addiction.
The Deepwater Horizon catastrophe, which to this day, two years after the explosion shown in the photograph took place, triggered events that are still killing people, and still killing the environment, with the poisonous drug civilization is greatly addicted to.
Today, I will quote from a blog that links to several sources which lay out an ongoing, terrible, and lasting situation.
A situation destructive to our environment, and destructive to our people all along the gulf:
... there are numerous signs that the worst-case scenario may be playing out:(Washington's Blog). It is an ugly, deadly addiction that requires extraordinary effort to resist, which our government is not taking seriously enough, and an extraordinary addiction that our government is not resisting well at all:
- New York Times: "Gulf Dolphins Exposed to Oil Are Seriously Ill, Agency Says
- MSNBC: Gulf shrimp scarce this season (and see the Herald Tribune's report)
- Mother Jones: Eyeless shrimp are being found all over the Gulf
- CBS:Expert: BP spill likely cause of sick Gulf fish (and see the Press Register's report)
- Pensacola News Journal: "Sick fish" archive
- Agence France Presse: Mystery illnesses plague Louisiana oil spill crews
- MSNBC:Exclusive: Submarine Dive Finds Oil, Dead Sea Life at Bottom of Gulf of Mexico
- AP: BP oil spill the culprit for slow death of deep-sea coral, scientists say (and see the Guardian and AFP's write ups)
- A recent report also notes that there are flesh-eating bacteria in tar balls of BP oil washing up on Gulf beaches
- And all of that lovely Corexit dispersant sprayed on water, land and air? It inhibits the ability of microbes to break down oil, and allows oil and other chemicals to speed past the normal barriers of human skin. Background here. NYT: Impact of Gulf Spill's Underwater Dispersants Is Examined Speaking on the chemical ingredients of the dispersants used, "The report finds that "Of the 57 ingredients: 5 chemicals are associated with cancer; 33 are associated with skin irritation from rashes to burns; 33 are linked to eye irritation; 11 are or are suspected of being potential respiratory toxins or irritants; 10 are suspected kidney toxins; 8 are suspected or known to be toxic to aquatic organisms; and 5 are suspected to have a moderate acute toxicity to fish."
Dramatic and unprecedented plumes of methane - a greenhouse gas 20 times more potent than carbon dioxide - have been seen bubbling to the surface of the Arctic Ocean by scientists undertaking an extensive survey of the region. The scale and volume of the methane release has astonished the head of the Russian research team who has been surveying the seabed of the East Siberian Arctic Shelf off northern Russia for nearly 20 years. In an exclusive interview with The Independent, Igor Semiletov of the International Arctic Research Centre at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, who led the 8th joint US-Russia cruise of the East Siberian Arctic seas, said that he has never before witnessed the scale and force of the methane being released from beneath the Arctic seabed.(Independent, 12-13-11, emphasis added). Not only that, now methane has been discovered being released from cracks in the arctic ice:
The researchers found significant amounts of methane being released from the ocean into the atmosphere through cracks in the melting sea ice. They said the quantities could be large enough to affect the global climate. Previous observations have pointed to large methane plumes being released from the seabed in the relatively shallow sea off the northern coast of Siberia but the latest findings were made far away from land in the deep, open ocean where the surface is usually capped by ice.(Independent, 4-23-12, emphasis added). Surprises are not very good sometimes, and this is one of those times.
Eric Kort of Nasa's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, said that he and his colleagues were surprised to see methane levels rise so dramatically each time their research aircraft flew over cracks in the sea ice.
"When we flew over completely solid sea ice, we didn't see anything in terms of methane. But when we flew over areas were the sea ice had melted, or where there were cracks in the ice, we saw the methane levels increase," Dr Kort said. "We were surprised to see these enhanced methane levels at these high latitudes. Our observations really point to the ocean surface as the source, which was not what we had expected," he said.
"Other scientists had seen high concentrations of methane in the sea surface but nobody had expected to see it being released into the atmosphere in this way," he added.
The next post in this series is here.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
As we continue to conduct research in the social business arena, it's important to point out the trends in the space. In particular, a role that is so key to success for customer engagement (marketing and service) is the challenging (and often under-appreciated) community manager role. Lately, I've found a few trends that community managers (and their bosses) need to be aware of, as the space continues to grow.
Third Party Community Management Specialists On The Rise:
Here's what we've been seeing based on a few briefings and interactions I've taken in the past few months:
- Recently, I spoke to a group of community managers at Weber Shandwick (invited by Stephanie Agresta) a communications agency, they work closely with their clients and are often representing the brand on behalf of the client who is unable to scale with limited resources. They also offer an interesting service called Firebell which simulates crises in a safe environment.
- A few days ago, I was briefed by Cap Gemini who offers BPO (Business Process Outsourcing, a term I've found most on the marketing side don't know), and they are partnered with Attensity (software) to provide community management services and support.
- While many community platforms offer CM services, Liveworld (client) has focus here and, is one of the seasoned mainstays in community management and offers services (and software) to brands that seek community management services on demand.
- I've been briefed by Sean O'Driscoll at Ant's Eye View and they offer a range of services at the strategy level for their clients but also offers community management and analytics services.
- A few weeks back, Chief Strategy Officer Peter Kim from Dachis group briefed Altimeter on their various strategy, implementation services, including community management as a managed service.
Altimeter Data Shows Staff and Agency Spend Top Spends
If you look at Altimeter spending data in Social Business, we already see a significant amount of revenues going to internal staff as well as agency folks, and it's interesting to see how boutique social media agencies overtake traditional agencies in spending, I'm seeing an increase of community management staff be on demand from agency and third party side.
Expect Emerging Markets to Offer BPO Services, Outsourcing Some Activities
Last year, I went out to Manila to meet with the local web, agency, and business groups, and met some folks who work within the established BPO industry, most of these companies are known to manage the overseas call centers that you speak to for customer support. While I found they were not ready for 'social support' I'm starting to get briefings and hearing how they are gearing up to move into outsourced community management. Based upon my experience, I see a range of Community Management services, I'm open to adding to this, based upon your feedback:
Matrix: Four Levels of Community Management Services:
Activity | What it looks like | Trends |
4) Strategy | Often behind the scenes, they lead the overall strategy of how customers fit into multiple business units. Often does reporting and responsible for return on investment. | This activity is likely to stay within the corporation as they have understanding of business goals, and key relationships |
3) Brand Representation | Represents the story of the brand (and of course that of customers) and is often a primary face of the company in online communities on an ongoing basis. | Often within the corporation, sometimes this role is being held by agency partners, such as "Jenny at Axe" who was a full time Edelman employee. |
2) Member Response | Responds to frequent product inquiries such as "Do you have this or that?" or "Does anyone know how to X" | Often this is being served by a Product Marketing Manager, Product Manager, or Customer service representative –all who have been trained and know where knowledge is. Like other customer service channels, expect more of this role to be shifted to third-parties. |
1) Moderation, Curation, Analytics | Often behind the scenes, this group reviews content, and conducts triage for the content. They also may curate content and conduct basic reporting. | Frequently, I'm hearing these skills are being leveraged by outsourced providers as they have minimal impact to customer relationships, I expect this to continue |
Expect A Change in Community Management Sourcing:
The one constant of business is that it is always changing. Due to weak financial markets and inability for most to measure social business, scrutiny of resources is always top of mind, as a result, expect the following trends:
- An increase in offerings of community management services from "emerging" markets. While in many cases, I've found that community managers are often in the brand or agency side that are close to the corporate HQ, expect to see an increase of service providers from Philippines, India, and perhaps in South America. They've over a decade of experience managing customer service operations for brands on channels like phone –and can benefit to use channels accents won't be a distraction to the customer experience.
- Brands to continue to outsource some community manager activities –while strategic skills stay in house. Expect that brands will outsource activities such as moderation/curation and often reporting, and rely on knowledge workers who have specific product information or key client relationships to stay close to the brand. In the case of a few companies who enter the "holistic" formation, they will enable thousands of employees to respond –spreading the role across the company.
- Backlash from embedded community managers –yet savvy will "skill up" now. While we see that the number of social media accounts a brand has to manage on the rise (data), this trend won't be met without opposition, in fact, many voiced their concern on my Google+ page how outsourcing key relationships between brands and customers is what gets companies into hot waters in the first place. Yet, I expect many community managers to move into high echelon activities such as community programming on the content side, reporting and analytics, and learning to manage outsourced teams.
While I'm no longer in a community role (I used to be on brand side for social media), I wanted to provide my perspective from my vantage point. Lastly, remember that Community Manager Appreciation Day is every fourth Monday in Jan, every year (this coming Monday, Jan 24th 2012), and should be used to celebrate all community managers, whether on brand side, agency, or outsourced.
Update: Taking a briefing from Crowdflower that have some of these services, but it must go through their platform and API. They do crowdsourced BPO


text:
Do Not Sell
If you have entrepreneurial dreams, you'll want to consider Oklahoma City. It nabbed the title of the best place to launch a small business last year, according to NerdWallet's second annual ranking.
"Oklahoma City has seen a recent uptick in small business lending, which is helping to spur entrepreneurship there," said Sreekar Jasthi, an analyst with NerdWallet, noting that it moved up from fifth place in 2012.
The small business loans are bolstered by a low cost of living and relatively low income tax.
"The ease of getting a business started here is another big sell," said Susan Urbach, director of the University of Central Oklahoma Small Business Development Center. "You can file all the paperwork online or head downtown and get it all done in a single morning."
The city's revitalized downtown and several new business accelerators are helping Oklahoma City attract new startups, particularly in healthcare, biotech and technology.


text:
2017 Chinese Astrology for Chicken Year
2017 Chinese Zodiacs - Year of Red Chicken
2013 Chinese
Astrology - Year of Snake
2014 Chinese Astrology - Year of Horse
Chinese Astrology for Royal Baby Prince George
2012 is Year of the Dragon and it will arrive on February 4, 2012. Many people must be eager to know if they will have better luck in the coming year than previous years. Here, we want to use Chinese Astrology Five Elements (Metal, Water, Wood, Fire and Earth) theory to explain people's fortune in 2012 and foresee what will be happening to them in the year of the Dragon.
According to Chinese Five Element Astrology Calendar, 2012 is the Year of Water Dragon . The color of Water in Five Elements system is related to Black. Therefore we can say 2012 is a Black Dragon, Water Dragon or Black Water Dragon year.
Chinese Astrology is a Balance Theory of Five Elements. Each animal can be converted into Five Elements. Dragon contains Earth, Water and Wood. It's a source of Water and It is also called the Water Dam in Chinese astrology. Since Water of 2012 comes with Dragon. it implied Water from the sky makes a dam overflow. Therefore 2012 is a strong Water year.
Dragon is a legendary animal and it is symbol of emperor in China. Since the Dragon is coated with mysterious color, Chinese consider that the dragon is unpredictable, untouchable and people cannot see its head and tail at the same time. Therefore, we can might see something unexpected happening in 2012. Also a person with too many dragons in the Chinese astrology birth chart will become smarter, sly and unpredictable in the coming year.
2010 was the Year of White Tiger and is the beginning year of the Wood cycle. 2011 was the Year of White Rabbit and is the middle year of the Wood cycle. The Dragon of 2012 is the last year of the Wood cycle. Dragon is the transition year to the Fire Cycle. The energy of Wood is in the East side. The energy of Fire is in the South side. We never know what will happen when turning from East to South. That's another sign of unpredictable Dragon year. You can have either good luck or bad luck in 2012, and will have a chance to turn it into better or worse luck.
Before predicting your luck in 2012, you have to know what Type of Element you are and what your Lucky Element is from your astrology birth chart. The Lucky Element is the major factor to determine people's fortune. 2012 is the Year of Black Water Dragon, which contains Earth, Water and Wood. If your Lucky Element is Earth, Water or Wood, then 2012 will bring you some degree of luck. Since 2012 is Water Dragon, people whose lucky element is Water will benefit more in 2012. Fire is the opposite element of Water. People whose lucky element is Fire will have more impact in 2012.
For more details and an accurate prediction, the first step to knowing your fortune is know what animals are in your birth chart. You can find that information from the Chinese Astrology Lucky Element page using your birthday and birth time.
The following is the example of the Chinese Astrology Birth Chart.
The Birth Chart of June 15, 2008 |
Fire represents the person. This Birth Chart shows Fire-Type Person |
This person was born on June 15, 2008. The symbol of the upper row of the Day Column (a.k.a. Day Master) represents the person. So we can say Day Master is Male Fire, which represents the person. The birth chart has too little Metal and needs more Metal to balance the Five Elements. Therefore, the Lucky Element is Metal.
2012 is Male Water Dragon year. Dragon contains Earth, Water and Wood. Dragon and Rat in the Year Column have attraction relationship into Water. That means Water is pretty strong in 2012. Day Master Fire is afraid of Water. Water brings the pressure on the Day Master Fire. This baby is about 4 year old. Therefore, it should be watched for the health.
Water is also related to jobs and/or career. If this person was born on June 30, 1948, then this person should have a good career opportunity in 2012. However, Male Water of 2012 and Day Master Fire have a fighting relationship. Also, Dragon and the Dog in the Day Column have another fighting relationship. This implies a family, health or marriage issue will appear in 2012.
Fortune Basic - Lucky Element and Day Master Type
2012 is the Water Dragon year. Dragon contains Earth. People whose Earth score is low will receive benefits from Dragon. Dragon also contains Water. 2012 will bring good luck for people whose Lucky Element is Water. Dragon is the last year of the Wood cycle. Dragon carries the Wood energy from Rabbit of 2011. If you did very well in 2011 and your Lucky Element is Wood, then your luck will most likely continue during the year of Dragon.
The following table shows people's luck in 2012 based on their Luck Element.
Lucky Element | How good is my luck in 2012? |
Metal | When Metal is under Water. People cannot see the Metal, unless they watch carefully into Water. Also, Water can protect Metal, if a strong Fire element is around. Therefore the luck of 2012 is fine. |
Water | It's very good, 2012 is a strong Water year. There is nothing can stop the luck coming to you. You can feel it and people can see good luck over you all the time. |
Wood | It's good. Water can help Wood (tree) growing. That means Wood can become strong with the support of Water. But if the birth chart already has lots of Water, then Wood might be rooted out when extra Water comes. Luckily, Dragon contains Earth and Wood, which can help Wood survive in the Water. |
Fire | It's not good. Fire is afraid of Water. When too much Water comes, then Fire has a chance to be extinguished. That implies many pressures will come in 2012. Depending on the relationship between Fire and Day Master, Fire might be related to money, career, reputation or health. This is a year to watch for safety. |
Earth | It's fair. Lots of Water can flash away Earth and make Water dirty. Luckily, Dragon contains Earth. Therefore, the luck of 2012 cannot last too long, but the opportunity is always around. You will have better luck between the change of seasons. |
The following table tells people's what event might happen in 2012 based on their Day Master Element Type. Day Master is the upper row symbol in the Day Column of the Birth Chart.
Day Master Type | What will happen in 2012? |
Metal | Water represents your outlook or expression to show the public. So it is
related to performance, speech, behavior , freedom and fame. Therefore, your social
life will increase. You will have many opportunity to show your talent. People will talk about you.
If you have a positive attitude, then you
should earn a good reputation from people. If you don't have a strong mind
and don't have confidence about yourself, then people might not paint you in
the same light. More than likely, taking care of such a busy life will consume your energy when you have many activities with people. Dragon contains Earth. Earth is the mother element of Metal. So Earth is connected to your parents, teachers or someone who supports you. It also related to your health, protection, housing or education. If your Metal is weak, then you will receive the help from people who support you. They also give you compliments about your behavior. If your Water is strong, then your friends will provide you different advice or suggestions very often. Those opinions can confuse you and lead you to make the wrong decision or investment. If you cannot please your friends, then they may bring you a bad reputation. In general, you will have a mixed reputation in 2012. |
Water | Water represents your friends, siblings or same generation relatives.
The 2012 events will connected to them and spend most of time with them.
You will have more energy in social activities. If Water is your Lucky
Element, then you will get lots of courage and support from your siblings or
friends. If you are doing business, then your friends or business partners
will help you to bring in more income. If Water is your Unlucky Element,
then your friends or relatives will bring you trouble. They might ask for a
loan, or you may be forced to spend money on them. The major element of Dragon is Earth. Water is afraid of Earth. Earth brings pressure on Water. So Earth represents law, career, boss or position. If you have a lot of Water in the birth chart, then Dragon will bring a job opportunity. If you waste money in spending, Dragon will give you advice on how to save money. If someone wants to borrow money from you, then sometimes Dragon will help you to say no. If you have a little Water in the birth chart, your friends and siblings will fully support you when you face trouble in career, argument or lawsuit. In general, 2012 will be a very good year for people whose Water element score is low. The high score Water people need a conservative attitude in the Water Dragon year. |
Wood | Water is the mother element of Wood. Water represents parents, mentors,
elders, protection, teachers, knowledge, education, medicine and/or health.
Therefore, people who care you a lot will often be in contact with you in 2012. They
will give you good support and good reputation. You will earn a lot of
knowledge from their advice, and bring up your confidence. This will help
your career development or money investment. But if Water is your Unlucky
Element, then either they cannot give you good recommendations or you cannot
accept their opinions. This might result in bad decision making and you might lose career or money opportunities. Dragon is Earth, which is related to money and wealth. Therefore something to do with money, finance or investment will also happen to you in 2012. If you have strong Wood, you will have more chances to increase your income or investment. If you have enough money, then you can think about the investment on housing, which is connected to Water. Dragon also contains Wood and Water. Wood will become stronger. If you have high score Wood in the birth chart, then you should watch for your words and deeds, otherwise bad reputation might come to you very soon. Also, there is a chance of poor health. |
Fire | Water can extinguish the Fire. Because of this, Water brings pressure to Fire.
Therefore, Water is related to your career, position, boss, teacher, police or law.
This is not a good sign for career and health unless you have very strong
Fire in the birth chart. But you shouldn't have too much trouble, if your Day Master is Female Fire
. This is because
Female Fire and Male Water
of 2012 have
attraction relationship into Wood. That means pressure becomes protection, or we can say that Female Fire knows how to handle the pressure
from Male Fire. This is a sign of a good people relationship. If you are a
woman, then this is a year for love relationship. If you are lucky, then it
might end up a marriage. If your Day Master is Male Fire , then you should think about patience, safety and conservativeness in the Water Dragon year. Dragon is Earth, which is the Child Element of Fire. That implies Fire will give away its energy to Earth. So Earth will make Fire weak. If both Water and Dragon can weaken the Fire, then you need to watch for your health, safety, career and lawsuit. You shouldn't involve into to any competition or argument. You should to watch your behavior and stay alert to prevent accidents. Wood is the Mother Element of Fire. When trouble is coming in 2012. Fire should look for Wood for help since Wood can overcome Earth and Wood can pass Water energy to Fire. |
Earth | Water represents money or wealth to Earth. Therefore the major event in
2012 will be money related. If you have strong Earth in your birth chart, then money
opportunity is around you all year long. Your income, investment and wealth
will increase quickly. But if you have a weak Earth in the birth chart, then
money trouble will come to you soon. Therefore you shouldn't do any risky
investments. There is no easy money. You have to earn money the hard way. You
probably should not loan money to friends. It is also advisable to not loan money
for investments, either. Otherwise, money opportunities will become debts. Dragon contains Earth. Earth is related to friends, relatives, coworkers or business partners. All friendship or people relationship will become the money relationship. Either they will help you to bring in more income or help you to spend your money. Water is an opposite element of Earth. If Water can bring in money, then Earth will spend money out. If Water can waste your money, then Earth can help you to earn some back. In short, 2012 will be the year of money going in and out. |
Fortune Variation - Five Elements and Animal Relationships
2012 is Male Water Dragon year . If your birth chart contains Female Fire , then your social relationship with people will be good. If Female Fire is your Day Master and you are a female, then it's possible that a love relationship, engagement or marriage will come to you in 2012.
Female Metal and Male Fire have a Stem Attraction Relationship into Wood. Dragon also contains Wood, therefore, if Wood is your lucky element, then 2012 will be a very good year to you.
Chicken and Dragon have a Branch Attraction Relationship into Metal. If Chicken is in your birth chart, then your people relationship will be good. If Metal is also your lucky element, then you will do well in social activities. Chicken is also the Romantic Star of Dragon. If you are looking for love, then you will have a very good opportunity to find someone you like. If you already have a lover, then we will have a closer relationship. If Chicken is in the Day Column of the birth chart, then you might think about marriage in 2012.
If both Dragon and Rabbit are in the birth chart, then they will gather and enforce the strength of Wood. Because Water of 2012 is the supporting element of Wood, people with lucky element Wood can receive the benefit from Water Dragon. If Tiger also appears in the birth chart or current 10-Year Major Cycle, then the three of them form the strongest Wood combination. That means this will be a wonderful year for people whose luck element is Wood. The best month of the year will be the Tiger month and Rabbit month.
If both Rat and Monkey are in the birth chart, then they will join with Dragon to form a very powerful Water combination. That means Water lucky element people will have a big surprise year. If Water represents your Money Star, then you will see your wealth grow in 2012. But if Water is the unlucky element, then watch your money, otherwise the debt will be waiting for you.
Dragon is also called Water Dam in the Chinese astrology. If only Rat appears in the birth chart of current 10-year Major Cycle without Monkey, then Rat and Dragon are still can build a strong Water. People whose Lucky Element is Water can expect good people relationships and good luck in 2012, especially in the month of Monkey, which is in August.
Dog and Dragon have a Fighting Relationship, which implies poor people relationship. If the Male Fire Dog or Male Earth Dog in the Year Column or Day Column of the birth chart, then this is the case of a Double Stem-Branch Fighting Relationship. This is a bad sign of instability, accident, separation, dispute, hostility and poor health. These type of people should use a conservative attitude and approach to avoid any dispute, quarrel and challenges in 2012.
Tiger is the Travel Star to Dragon . People whose birth chart contains a Tiger may wish for outdoor activities, either for business trips or for a long distant vacation. It also implies something will keep turning your mind around.
When Dragon meets Dragon , they have a Self-Hurting Relationship, which can disturb people's emotions, judgment, and decision. People might become suspicious and stubborn. When things go wrong, then they will blame themselves. Traditionally, Double Dragons (one dragon in the Year Column or Day Column of the birth chart, one in year 2012) is a bad sign for their yearly luck. This is because the Chinese dragon is untouchable and unpredictable. A person with too many dragons is unpredictable too and becomes somewhat sly. If the forecast is unpredictable, then it won't be a good year.
However, according to Chinese Five Element astrology, Double Dragons should form a strong Earth. Earth implies steadiness or stillness. Earth people minds are kind of inflexible. They always have the basic instinct to keep their promise. If Earth is their Lucky Element, then Earth people should do well in 2012.
2012 Doomsday: Chinese Astrology and Mayan Calendar Prophecy
2012 Chinese Horoscopes for 12 Chinese Zodiac Signs
2013 Chinese Astrology - Year of Black Snake
Yearly Chinese Astrology Major Cycles Astrology
Chinese Fortune Angel
tells your lucky elements and lucky animals


text:
George W. Bush on Tax ReformPresident of the United States, Former Republican Governor (TX) |
KERRY: I have supported or voted for tax cuts over 600 times. I broke with my party in order to balance the budget, and Ronald Reagan signed into law the tax cut that we voted for. I voted for IRA tax cuts. I voted for small-business tax cuts.
BUSH: Kerry voted to violate the budget cap 277 times. You know, there's a main stream in American politics and you sit right on the far left bank. As a matter of fact, your record is such that Ted Kennedy, your colleague, is the conservative senator from Massachusetts.
BUSH: Eliminate the death tax completely because people shouldn�t be taxed twice on their assets. It�s either unfair for some or unfair for all. I think if you�ve got tax relief, everybody benefits.
Gore said, �I�m pleased that Saudi Arabia is proposing to increase production. I call on the big oil companies to let that pass through in the form of price reductions at the gasoline filling stations. What we need is not a trickle of relief, we need significant reduction.�
BUSH: I led my state, in 1997, to the largest tax cut in Texas history. I laid out a plan that cut $1 billion of property taxes.. I am a tax-cutting person.
FORBES: There was a lot of hedging about this pledge. The pledge was made in 1994. I have a copy of it here, promising not to raise the sales tax or to propose any kind of income tax. When he proposed this bill in 1997 it did have provisions in there for tax increases including increasing a sales tax. Pledges should not be lightly made and a pledge is a promise. Bush�s own staff admits that he broke the pledge. In 1998, I supported you & I would have voted for you. But you did break that pledge.
BUSH: [People] need to look at the results. That�s what�s important. The results are people from all walks of life received a substantial tax cut under me as the governor of Texas.
By making our economy more flexible, more innovative, and more competitive, we will keep America the economic leader of the world. America's prosperity requires restraining the spending appetite of the federal government. I welcome the bipartisan enthusiasm for spending discipline.
The principle here is clear: Taxpayer dollars must be spent wisely or not at all.
FACT CHECK: Bush could hardly have been farther off base when he said most of his tax cuts "went to low- and middle-income Americans." That's just not true. In fact, the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center recently calculated that most of the tax cuts-53% to be exact-went to the highest-earning 10% of US individuals and families. Those most affluent Americans got an average tax cut of $7,661. And as for the "low- and middle-income Americans" Bush mentioned-the bottom 60% of individuals and families got only 13.7% of the tax cuts, a far cry from "most" of the cuts as claimed by Bush.
FACT CHECK: The President came closer to the mark, but still got it wrong, when he said that the top 20% of earners pay "about 80% of the taxes in America today." That's incorrect. In fact, as we reported only that morning, the Congressional Budget Office calculates that the top 20% now pay 63.5% of the total federal tax burden, which includes income taxes, payroll taxes and other federal levies. It's true that the top 20% pays nearly 81% of all federal income taxes, but the president spoke more expansively of "taxes in America," not just income taxes.
BUSH: Well look at the budget. One is to make sure Congress doesn't overspend. But let me talk back about where we've been. The stock market was declining six months prior to my arrival. It was the largest stock market correction - one of the largest in history, which foretold a recession. Because we cut taxes on everybody - remember, we ran up the child credit by a thousand, we reduced the marriage penalty, we created the 10 percent bracket - everybody who pays taxes got relief.
KERRY: Most of the 2001 tax cut went to the wealthiest people in the country. Bush came and asked for a tax cut. We wanted a tax cut to kick the economy into gear. You know what he presented us with? A $25 billion give-away to the biggest corporations in America, including a $254 million refund check to Enron.
AD ANNOUNCER:�After recession, 9-11 and war, now our economy has been growing for ten straight months.
ANALYSIS: This Bush ad on cable networks makes a questionable claim when it lists "the largest tax relief in history" amid Bush's accomplishments. Bush's cuts are indeed historically�big. But whether they are bigger than Ronald Reagan's depends on any number of assumptions. Reagan's looks larger by several measures.
The campaign has taken a positive turn: with this ad,�Bush paints himself as a bigger optimist than Kerry.�He's responding to a�June 1 Kerry ad in which Kerry says, "We're a country of optimists; we're the can-do people."
Americans took those dollars and put them to work, driving this economy forward. The pace of economic growth in the third quarter of 2003 was the fastest in nearly 20 years: new home construction, the highest in almost 20 years; homeownership rates, the highest ever. Manufacturing activity is increasing, inflation is low, interest rates are low, exports are growing, productivity is high, and jobs are on the rise.
These numbers confirm that the American people are using their money far better than government would have, and you were right to return it.
BUSH: We have come through recession, and terrorist attack, and corporate scandals, and the uncertainties of war. And because you acted to stimulate our economy with tax relief, this economy is strong, and growing stronger.... And jobs are on the rise.
FACTCHECK: It is true that the economy grew last quarter at a yearly rate of 8.2%. And private economists are generally agreed that tax cuts helped propel the consumer spending that fueled the growth, which continues. Also true is that the economy has gained 278,000 jobs since July, when the job slump bottomed out. But what the President left unsaid is that in the most recent month the job gain was almost nonexistent-only 1,000-and that as of December total employment was still 2.3 million below where it stood when Bush took office.
Bush signed his tax cut into law on June 7, 2001. Bush's opponents could only fulminate as he sent all that lovely money out of Washington forever, out of their reach, back home to its owners.
Unrestrained government spending is a dangerous road to deficits, so we must take a different path. The other choice is to let the American people spend their own money to meet their own needs.
You see, the growing surplus exists because taxes are too high and government is charging more than it needs. The people of America have been overcharged and on their behalf, I�m here asking for a refund. Some say my tax plan is too big, others say it�s too small. I respectfully disagree. This plan is just right.
Bush says the tax cut is necessary to stave off a recession, and many Democrats agree, although some believe a smaller cut of less than $1 trillion over 10 years is in order. Bush warned of �troubling� economic signs as he pitched the tax-cut plan and Democrats responded that the proposal would disproportionately help the wealthy. The Democrats also argued that Bush�s tax cut and increased spending on improving schools, the military and Medicare would bring new deficits.
�I think the plan ought to not only fulfill the goals, which are reducing all marginal rates, simplifying the code, helping make sure the tax system is more fair to people at the bottom end of the economic ladder, getting rid of the death tax, doing something on the marriage penalty.� But if it looked as though retroactive tax cuts would help a faltering U.S. economy, then Bush said he would �make that decision based upon where we are at the time.�
An analysis by Congress�s Joint Committee on Taxation shows that in 2005, Bush�s plan would reduce taxes on households making $200,000 or more by $32 billion, or 27% of the total tax cut in that year of $120 billion. Households making less than $40,000 would receive $12 billion in 2005, or 10% of the total.
Bush has said in all the debates that his plan would require people at upper-income levels to pay a greater share of federal income taxes. The analysis shows that households making $200,000 or more in 2005 would pay 27.4% of total federal income taxes under Bush�s plan, just as they do now. Households making $100,000 or more would see their share of the total income tax bill tick up to 25.2%, from 25.1% under current law. Neither calculation considers the effects of the estate tax, which would benefit people at upper-income levels the most.
Gore offers virtually nothing for taxpayers making that much money. Gore selectively targets his tax cuts to married couples and families and also offers credits to nearly 30 million of the working poor.
Bush, instead, emphasizes cutting tax rates, especially the highest rates, so that most of the cuts flow to the people who pay most of the taxes. In the Bush plan, two-thirds of that $500 billion goes to people making between $50,000 and $100,000-and less than 5% of the overall tax cut goes to people making less than $30,000. People with no income tax liability-but who still pay payroll taxes-get almost nothing under the Bush plan.
BUSH: If you pay taxes, you ought to get tax relief. The vice president believes that only the right people ought to get tax relief. I don�t think that�s the role of the president to pick: �You�re right, and you�re not right.� I think if you�re going to have tax relief, everybody ought to get it. And, therefore, wealthy people are going to get it. But we�ve structured the plan so that 6 million additional American families pay no taxes. If you�re a family of four making $50,000, you get a 50% cut in your federal income taxes. And I believe the people who pay the bills ought to get some money back. It�s a difference of opinion. He wants to grow the government, and I trust you with your own money.
Q: What do you say specifically to what the vice president said tonight? He�s said it many times, that your tax cut benefits the top 1% of the wealthiest Americans.
BUSH: Of course, it does. If you pay taxes, you�re going to get a benefit. People who pay taxes will get tax relief.
GORE: Look, this isn�t about Gov. Bush, it�s not about me. It is about you. If everyone here in this audience [of several hundred] was in the middle of the middle class, then the tax cuts for every single one of you, all added up, would be less than the tax cut his plan would give to just one member of that top, wealthiest 1%. Now, you judge for yourselves whether or not that�s fair.
BUSH: Fifty million Americans get no tax relief under his plan.
GORE: That�s not right.
BUSH: And you may not be one of them; you�re just not one of the right people.
GORE: That 50 million figure, the journalists are the keepers of the scorecard and whether or not you�re using facts that aren�t right. And that fact is just not right.
BUSH: He says he�s going to give you tax cuts; 50 million of you won�t receive it. He wants to make sure the right people get tax relief. Everybody who pays taxes ought to get tax relief. The wealthiest Americans will pay a higher % of taxes than they do today, and the poorest of Americans won�t pay any tax at all. It is a huge difference. It�s the difference between big, exploding federal government that wants to think on your behalf and a plan that meets priorities and liberates working people.
GORE: You haven�t heard the governor deny these numbers. He�s called them fuzzy. But the fact remains, almost 30% of his tax cut goes only to Americans that make more than $1 million.
BUSH: Let me give you one example, the Strunk family. They make $51,000. They pay about $3,800 in taxes. Under my plan, they get $1,800 of tax relief. Under Vice President Gore�s plan, they get $145 of tax relief. Now tell me, who stands on the side of the rich?
Q. So, Governor, is this no new taxes so help me God? A: This is not only no new taxes. This is tax cuts so help me God. There is a mindset in Washington that says if we have extra money let�s create more federal government. That�s not the way I think.. Rather than create more government, I think we ought to pass money back to the working people in America.


text:
Planet Cheats
Search Cheats
- Any Platform -
Atari 2600
DVD Extras
Game Boy
Game Boy Advance
Game Boy Color
Game Gear
Master Systems
Mobile Games
Nintendo 64
Nintendo DS
Nintendo Wii
Playstation 2
Playstation 3
Sega 32X
Sega CD
Super NES
TurboGrafx 16
Xbox 360
Game Platforms
Atari 2600
DVD Extras
Game Boy
Game Boy Advance
Game Boy Color
Game Gear
Master Systems
Mobile Games
Nintendo 64
Nintendo DS
Nintendo Wii
Playstation 2
Playstation 3
Sega 32X
Sega CD
Super NES
TurboGrafx 16
Xbox 360
Sponsored Links
PimpFights RPG Game
Free Online Games
Tila Nguyen Online
Hangman Game
Namezing Network
Free custom smileys
Browse Cheat Codes by Game Title
Cheat codes for Pokemon Leaf Green
Game Boy Advance
User rating:
Page visits:
Old Moves Available
Some of the old moves are available to teach to your Pok?mon. Here are a few of them and their locations [they will be taught by characters around these areas]:
Mega Kick/Mega Punch: Obtained outside of Mt. Moon, Cerulean Exit, by two men.
Seismic Toss: Obtained through the back entrance of Pewter Museum from a scientist.
Rock Slide: Obtained near the end of Rock Tunnel from a boy.
Softboiled: Obtained by a man across the pond in Celadon City.
Mimic: Obtained in Mimic Girl's house in Saffron City after you've given her a Pok?doll.
Thunder Wave: Obtained by a woman on the 2nd floor of the Sliph Co. building.
Counter: Obtained from a man located in Celadon's City Department Store 3rd floor.
Subtitute: Obtained from a man located infront of the Kangaskhan pen in Fuschia City.
Dream Eater: Obtained from a man across a pond in Viridian City.
Metronome: Obtained from a scientist in the second room of the Cinnibar Laboratory in Cinnibar Island.
Double-Edge: Obtained from a guy near the end of Victory Road.
Explosion: Obtained from a Hiker on the Northern area of Rainbow Island 1.
Elemental Attacks (Blast Burn, Frenzy Plant, and Hydro Cannon): Obtained from a move tutor in Rainbow Island 2. However, he will only teach your stater Pok?mon one of these attacks according to its type.
Body Slam: Obtained from a tutor on Rainbow Island 4.
Swords Dance: Obtained from a man located on the pier of Rainbow Island 7.
Note: Some of these moves can be taught multiple times, others only once. So choose wisely.
Completing the Pok?dex
Trade with Pok?mon Ruby/Sapphire, Pok?mon Colosseum, and Leaf Green to complete the Pok?dex.
Legendary Pok?mon
Entei, Suicune, and/or Raikou will appear in the wild on the lands of Kanto after you have beaten the Elite Four and become Champion. However, only one will appear according to your starter:
Squirtle - Raikou
Bulbasaur - Entei
Charmander - Suicune
Unlock the National Dex in Ruby and Sapphire
Trade a Pok?mon between Leaf Green and Ruby/Sapphire (after you have unlocked the National Pok?dex in Leaf Green) to unlock the National Pok?dex on Ruby/Sapphire.
Johto Pok?mon
Some Johto Pok?mon are available on the Rainbow Islands. However, they are not available until you have beaten the Elite Four, become champion, and received the National Pok?dex.
Unlimited way to stop Sleeping
After get the Pok?flute. Use it in battle when a Pok?mon from your side is asleep. It will awake so you doesn't need "Awakening" anymore. You can use it as much as you can!
Mystery Gift
Go into any Pokemon Center and go to the Clipboard by the Shop Owner. Go to it and you can put in 4 words. Put in the words "Link Together With All." The Shopkeeper will notice this and give you access to the Mystery Gift system. Now save your game and reset and when you go to re-load it will be right below "New Game."
How to find the legendary bird pokemon
There are three legendary bird pokemon. Their locations are as followed:
Articuno: found in the seafoam islands, requirements: HMsurf, HMstrength
Zapdos: found in the power plant, requirements: HMsurf
Moltress: found in the cave by cerulean city, requirements: all HM's, beaten the elite four
Unlock Islands 1-3
Beat the first 7 gyms.
Always 2-Hit K.O.
First, catch an Articuno. It will know Mist, Agility, Mind reader, and Ice Beam. DO NOT delete Mind Reader. train it to level 85(that's when it learns Sheer Cold) and teach it Sheer Cold. Now, get into a battle. Use Mind Reader and on your next turn use Sheer Cold. it's an automatic K.O.! (Note: remember that Sheer Cold only affects pokemon with a lower level then the user. DO NOT attack higher-level pokemon!)
Puppy Starters
When you choose your starter, later on in the game, depending on your choice, you will have the chance to catch a legendary dog. The dog you will receive has an element that adds a strength to your Pokemon.
Bulbasaur: Entei
Charmander: Suicune
Squirtle: Raikou
To catch deoxys go to one of the rainbow islands find a tree with a triangle pointing to it a press A on it and it will start spinning don't touch the corners now if the triangle is pointing to the tree the island will start moving then the tree will turn into deoxys.
Master ball
To get a Master Ball you have to have gotten the Tea from the Old Lady in Pokemon Mansion(first floor front entrance). After you get to Saffron City, train your Pokemon until they are around Level 30-35 so when you face your Rival they will be all around level 40. After you get the card key, go down to the second floor and go to a room all the way on the left. Step on one of the teleport tiles and it will take you to a small room with a man who will give you Lapras and your Rival. AFter you fight your rival and get the Lapras go into the teleportation tile and it will take you to the eleventh floor where you will fight Giovanni(Team Rocket Boss) and a Rocket Grunt. YOu should be able to wipe out Giovanni if you have a really powerfull water or grass pokemon (Blastoise or Venusaur). After defeating Giovanni go talk to the President and he will give you the Master Ball. Master Ball will catch any Pokemon without fail and no matter what the HP. Also, you should save the Master Ball until you get to either the THree Legendary Dogs or Mewtwo.
Good moves
If you want to have a really strong team to prepare for the Elite Four, and you have all three starter pokemon, you should have venusaur learn Frenzy Plant and SolarBeam, Charizard learn Blast Burn and Fire Blast, and Blastoise learn Hydro Cannon and Hydro Pump. Blast Burn, Hydro Cannon, and Frenzy Plant are like the fire, water, and grass versions of Hyper Beam and cause as much damage as Hyper Beam (not counting weaknesses and strengths).
The real place to find Moltres is to get to First Island(after u beat Blaine Bill will take you there),go to the island with M.Ember, and keep going through each part until u see a giant red bird(A.K.A. Moltres).
Rainbow Islands
To get the first 3 Rainbow Islands,first beat the Cinabarn Gym and when u get out, Bill will give you a pass to go on a boat in Vermillion City at where the S.SAnne was,and you can go to the first 3 Rainbow Islands.
Saving Time in the Safari Zone
When you are in the Safari Zone, it counts the number of steps you take to determine the amount of time you have left. Well, if you want to catch a rare Pokémon, but don't want to run out of time, enter the grass, then lightly tap the directional pad. You will change the way you are facing, but it will not count as a step. You can have near-infinite time in the Safari Zone doing this. It is helpful when some Pokémon, such as Chansey, appear in only one section of the Zone.
Trainer Card Stickers
Go to 'Island 2' and go to the bragget house where he asks you what you want to Brag about:
Effect - Code
Egg Hatching Sticker 4th Lv - Hatch 300 Eggs.
Egg Hatching Sticker 3rd Lv - Hatch 200 Eggs.
Egg Hatching Sticker 2nd Lv - Hatch 100 Eggs.
Egg Hatching Sticker 1st Lv - Hatch 1 Egg.
Hall of Fame Sticker 4th Lv - Beat the Elite Four, 200 times.
Hall of Fame Sticker 3rd Lv - Beat the Elite Four, 100 times.
Hall of Fame Sticker 2nd Lv - Beat the Elite Four, 40 times.
Hall of Fame Sticker 1st Lv - Beat the Elite Four, 1 time.
Multibattle Link Win Sticker 1st Lv - Win 1 Battle.
Multibattle Link Win Sticker 2nd Lv - Win 20 Battles.
Multibattle Link Win Sticker 3rd Lv - Win 50 Battles.
Multibattle Link Win Sticker 4th Lv - Win 100 Battles.
Beat the elite four twelve times and it will appear wild in the cave at cerulean.
Ho-oh and Lugia
To get this powerful pokemons you must get the mystery ticket, you can get this ticket through a nintendo event or by an action replay code.
Duplicate Pokemon
Use the following trick to easily reproduce rare pokemon such as: Charizard, Lapras, etc. Capture a Ditto(this can be found at the cave at cerulean)take it to the daycare couple at island 4 and leave it there, put the pokemon you want to duplicate with the Ditto then get out and travel a little( this is the best way to get an egg easier) then come back until the old man comes uot of the gate and he will give you an egg, the pokemon that will hatch from the egg is the duplicate of the pokemon that you putted together with Ditto. Some Pokemon will not breed in this way(legendary pokemon).
Extra money
This code requires VS Seeker and amulet coin. Give the amulet coin to a pokemon in which you're sure that you'll use and battle a trainer, one in which hands out alot of money. Walk around for 100 steps and re-battle the trainer. Repeat until you have a surplus of money.
The most powerful team
Make sure your team is well balanced. You should have one of every type. That way the type advantage will usually be on your side! Here is my team as an example.
Charizard (Fire Flying)
Blastoise (Dark Water)
Venusaur (Grass Poison)
Mewtwo (Psychic)
Dragonite (Dragon Flying)
Raikou (Lightning Ground)
This was only an example. This team though has never lost.
DEOXYS( The real way to get it )
The code of deoxys that the pokemonmaster is wrong,this is the real form to get it: you must get the aurora pass through a nintendo event or by an action replay code then you get to birth island and there will be a triangle on the center ( it's a puzzle )you must move until the triangle is red and you will fight deoxys ( if you want the action replay code send me an e-mail ).
Baby Pokemon Eggs
To get a baby Pokemon first catch a Ditto(catch at routes 13 and 14, Pokemon Mansion and Cerulean Cave) and get another compatible Pokemon. E.g a Pokemon that is either a boy or girl. It has to be one or the other. Then go to four Island (where Lorelei lives) and go to the day- care center. The woman inside asks if you want her to take care of 1 or 2 of your Pokemon. Give her Ditto and the other Pokemon. Then exit and ride around on a bike for a while. Go back and talk to the man at the day- care fence. If he says "We were so suprised, your Pokemon had an egg. I don't know how it got there, but do you want it?" Say yes and he will give you the egg. Again, ride around on the bike and eventually it will hatch. It will be a baby form of the boy or girl Pokemon you put in day- care earlier! Now you have your baby Pokemon!
It will appear wild in the Victory Road after you get Mew.
Sacred ash
After you get Ho-ho check the place where ho-oh was and then you will get the sacred ash.
First you must solve a puzzle(tanoby key) this one is in the sevault canyon entrance, after solving the puzzle you can now find the unowns at the tanoby ruins.
Altering cave pokemon
If you enter at this peculiar cave the only pokemon you can find is zubat, but if you have an e-reader and the correct cards you will find more than a zubat for example: smeargle and other rare pokemon.
Rare color pokemon
Every pokemon has one of it's specimen at a rare color, to get rare color pokemon you must play 60 hours simultaneously, then the rare color pokemon will be released at every route, cave, etc.
Get some TM's at the roof top of celadon dept. store
The only thing you need to do is the following: get the 3 different beverages from the vending machine and give them to the young girl there and she will give you 3 TM's.
National Dex
Have over 60 pokemon in your pokedex and defeat the elite four. Go to pallet town and see the professor and he will give you the national dex.
In-game reset
Press the following buttons during game play to reset the game: A + B + Start + Select.
To get the ancient pokemon aerodactyl, go to the house to the right of the museum at pewter city. Note: you must have cut. Talk to the sciencist and he will give you the old amber. Take the old amber to the lab at cinnabar island and give it to a sciencist and let him bring it to life.
To get this rare pokemon you must get the national dex, clear the pokemon league and get the ruby and the sapphire to the network machine at one island.
Drawings in your trainer card
You can get drawings of your pokemon party at your trainer card, to do this you must go to the rocket game corner at celadon city, you must find a white machine at your right after you enter the building, then press the A button and it will ask you if you want a print of your pokemon at your trainer card.
To get all the unowns you need to solve the tanoby key which it is in the sevault canyon entrance, after this you can catch them in the tanoby ruins at seven island.
You can get this rare pokemon by 2 ways: the easy way is getting the action replay in my forum thread, the hard way, you must get mew defeating the elite four 12 times and celebi will appear wild in the victory road.
Catch Mewtwo
To catch Mewtwo, first you must beat the elite four and then get the sapphire and the ruby to give to Celio. You get the ruby from a secret entrance into Mount Ember on 1 island (which will be being guarded by two Rocket Grunts). Once you beat them (which won't be hard)they will tell you one of the two codes to get into the Rocket warehouse on another island. Then go into the cave and move through it. There won't be any battles and it doesn't take long. At the end there is the ruby, waiting for you to pick it up. Take it and leave. Give it to Celio in the 1 island Pokemon Center and go to the island with the brail cave. In the Pokemon Leaf Green or Fire Red box, there is a brail booklet. You can use it to crack the code on the Brail cave entrance door which will read "use cut". Use cut and enter. Inside there will be a hole. Drop into it and you will land in another room with four holes. At the back of this room there will be another brail stone. Use the brail booklet and read it. It will say up, down, left or right. If it says right, drop into the hole on the right, if it says up, drop into the hole at the top of the room etc. Underneath this room there are three more rooms that will have brail stones reading different directions. Eventually you will land in a room with the sapphire on a table. If you attempt to take it, a Rocket guy will charge into the room and steal the sapphire, claiming it as his own but telling you the second code for the Rocket warehouse. To get it off him, you must go to the island with the Rocket warehouse and beat everyone in there, including Giovani's second in command. Before battling you he will go on about Giovani leaving. Beat him and go into the next room. The guy who took the sapphire will be sitting at a table. Talk to him and he will give you it to you. In turn, give it to a delighted Celio and then go back to Kanto. Fly to Cerulean city and enter Cerulean Cave. Go through the maze and find Mewtwo. He is extremely difficult to catch, but it's worth the trouble! Of course, it won't be hard to catch him with the Master Ball if you saved it. If not keep trying and you might eventually catch him. He knows Psychic, Recover, Barrier and Swift.
The three legendary pokemon
Articuno-found in the seafoam islands
you will need surf and strength
Zapdos-found in the power plant
you will need surf
Moltres-found at the top of mount ember
you will need surf
Did you find this cheat useful?
10 - VERY useful!!
9 - ====
8 - ===
7 - ==
6 - =
5 - moderate
4 - =
3 - ==
2 - ===
1 - ====
0 - NOT useful!!
Planet Cheats
. All Rights Reserved.


text:
America's Grand Hotels
It begins with the stately pillars, the lavish flower arrangements, and a formal greeting. By the time my bag and I are whisked upstairs in one of the few remaining grand hotels in America, I already feel different.
It's hard to express what this feeling is, a feeling of pampering and privilege, perhaps. A feeling of having arrived. Even in the land of equality, these are feelings everyone should get a taste of from time to time, but we usually don't in the hustle-bustle of modern life.
From California to New York, Michigan to Florida, America's grand hotels are distinctive in their architecture, histories, and traditions. They were created as retreats for Americans made newly prosperous in the Industrial Age. These were newly minted gentility, folks with money to carve out leisure time and lake steamers and railroads to whisk them away.
Today what all the grand hotels share is a sense of occasion. You don't just pull up to the hotel parking lot expecting a convenient stopover on a long, arduous journey to somewhere else. Here, the hotel is the journey's end. You book ahead and anticipate walking through those majestic doors to be spoiled by a level of service that's rare unto extinction anywhere else in American life.
And then there's just the simple grandness of the history. Each time I go, I wonder: How many people before me have stared up 100 feet to the top of West Baden Springs' massive rotunda in the Hoosier heartland? How many visitors have marveled at the Moorish exuberance of tile and tapestry at Casa Monica in old St. Augustine? How many travelers have clipped-clopped up to the flag-festooned entrance of Michigan's Grand Hotel aboard the hotel's horse-drawn carriage, liveried in burgundy and silver?
The Greenbrier in West Virginia is the oldest of these venerable hotels with a tradition dating to 1778. Back then visitors would brave rutted roads to soak in the sulfur springs that bubbled up in the foothills of the Allegheny Mountains.
The Greenbrier is perhaps more like an English country house hotel than any property on American soil. Pillars and ceiling soar, sheltering American and English antiques, glorious mantles rescued from European wrecking balls, and 19th-century oil portraits capturing the flower of English and Southern gentility. That spirit is preserved today in the famous afternoon tea in the lobby at linen-topped tables while a pianist plays soft melodies in the background.
Part of the fun of exploring heritage hotels is taking time to slow down and step back into the traditions of travelers past. You can't leave the Grand Hotel atop its Mackinac Island bluff without whacking a few croquet balls, rocking on the world's longest front porch, and parading past a gauntlet of white-jacketed waiters into the vast dining room.
The Grand Hotel commands this jot of limestone, the linchpin between Michigan's Upper and Lower Peninsulas and the Great Lakes of Huron and Michigan. It's the place to slip back a century or more to an authentic horse-based society. However high summer's temperatures spike, Mackinac always sounds like Christmas Eve with the clatter of horses' hooves and the heel chains on their hitches jangling like jingle bells.
Celebrating 125 years, the white pine Grand Hotel floats somewhere in time, still hallmarked by friendly Midwestern service. There's a genteel pace at this National Historic Landmark that's otherworldly.
On this car-free island, the Grand Hotel welcomes its guests to the stables to meet the giant Percherons and hackney horses that pull its distinctive burgundy vehicles. I love to whisper to these leviathans in their stalls and admire the turn-of-the-century sleighs, cutters, and carriages in the Grand's collection.
While Mackinac Island turned its back on America's motoring progress, the Indiana hamlet of French Lick couldn't get enough of flashy cars, shiny locomotives, and private planes all belching fumes into the country air. For 30 rollicking years that peaked in the Roaring '20s, each arrival meant more high rollers in its dueling illegal casinos of French Lick and West Baden Springs.
While French Lick Resort barred its threshold to the likes of Al Capone, its rival casino just a mile down this Southern Indiana valley, West Baden, was wide open to the King of Crime and his courtiers. Legend has it that you could spot Capone checking in then buying a Chicago paper to see what kind of trouble he'd left behind back home.
Capone cavorted under West Baden's soaring dome, which hotelier Lee Sinclair crowed was "The Eighth Wonder of the World." It was the largest free-standing dome in the world when it was unveiled in 1902, a record that stood until the Astrodome in 1965.
Bitter rivals for so long, these two behemoths in the Hoosier countryside now thrive as sister resorts, yoked together in a mammoth historic preservation project. It took $500 million to restore French Lick to grandeur and bring West Baden back from ruin.
Today it's as easy as hopping on a resort shuttle to zoom between the two, trying out each one's pools, spas, shops, restaurants, and golf courses.
French Lick now has 23½-karat gold plaster rosettes and brackets in its lobby, recreated from a historic photo. Gold leaf glitters once again on the pavilion roof. The casino is back—and these days it's even legal.
West Baden has its Pompeian Court back in the vast atrium with Muses and Greek gods looking down. This is my favorite spot for afternoon tea or drinks at the bar, dwarfed by the masters of Olympus and the dome crown that glitters and seems to change color all night long.
Across the country from Indiana, the marbling and gilt are anything but faux at the US Grant Hotel in San Diego—just rediscovered after years in disguise.
When the Sycuan tribe of the Kumeyaay Indians bought the Grant in 2003, they discovered the original white Italian marble of the Grand Staircase lurking beneath the carpet. The staircase posts and balustrades, thought to be wood, were really carved alabaster. The new owners reopened the original carriage entrance and crowned it with a 1930s crystal chandelier.
The hotel seems to have come full circle, glittering again on Kumeyaay ancestral land in San Diego's historic Gaslamp Quarter.
The Grant is an urban grande dame hotel, an elegant base for shopping at Westfield Horton Plaza and enjoying performances at the Civic Auditorium, Balboa Theatre, and Symphony Hall.
After seeing a show there's no better place for a nightcap—maybe a signature Ulysses Vodkatini—than the GG Lounge. Relax and let your mind drift back 80 years or so to when one of the Grant's owners foresaw prohibition on the horizon. He converted the Bivouac Grill into a not-so-secret speakeasy called the Plata Real Nightclub. Bartenders moved the booze through holding pipes meant for steam and salt water from the bay.
The Grant became one of San Diego's most prosperous hotels during the era of bootleg gin; now, eight decades later, it's come full circle to thrive as a legitimate grand hotel.
Casa Monica
Casa Monica
Where: St. Augustine, Florida
A bit of history: The town of St. Augustine was founded by the Spanish in 1565 and remained under Spanish control for more than two centuries.
Fun fact: The hotel is named for St. Monica, the mother of St. Augustine, the city's namesake.
The tab: Room rates in low season (January and June-November) range from $159 to $259. High season rates (February-May nd December) range from $179-$399.
Contact: 888-213-8903; www.casamonica.com.
The Grand Hotel
The Grand Hotel
Where: Mackinac Island, Michigan
A bit of history: Five presidents have visited the Grand Hotel— Truman, Kennedy, Ford, Bush, and Clinton.
Fun fact: The Grand was the location for the 1979 movie Somewhere in Time starring the late Christopher Reeve, Christopher Plummer, and Jane Seymour.
The tab: The resort is open May 4-Oct. 28. The weekday price ranges from $254 per person per night to $374 per person per night. On the weekends prices range from $274 per person per night to $399 per person per night in a Named Room. The fees include the Full American Plan (three meals included).
Contact: 800-334-7263; www.grandhotel.com.
West Baden Springs
West Baden Springs
Where: French Lick, Indiana
A bit of history: Hotelier Lee Sinclair hired 500 men to work 10-hour shifts six days a week to build the domed building that every architect said couldn't be built.
Fun fact: The last time the Chicago Cubs won the World Series was 1908—the last year they trained at West Baden Springs. In 2011, to break the century-plus drought, the Cubs requested West Baden's famous Sprudel spring water shipped to spring training where it was sprinkled on the training field and on Wrigley Field in Chicago—to no avail.
The tab: In off-season (January-April and November-December) a French Lick room for two starts at $189 and a West Baden room for two at $299. In peak season (May-October) a French Lick room for two starts at $189 and a West Baden room for two at $299.
Contact: 888-936-9360; http://frenchlick.com.
US Grant
US Grant
Where: San Diego, California
A bit of history: In 1939 Grant's owners installed the West Coast's largest radio towers on the roof. KFVW radio soon moved into the space, and the hotel scored a coup when President Franklin D. Roosevelt delivered one of his first radio addresses to the nation from the Grant.
Fun fact: For the 2006 grand re-opening owners of the US Grant commissioned a $250,000 hand-milled carpet from Thailand and had it delivered by ship. You can admire the rug's lustrous blues and golds in the lobby.
The tab: Room rates in the low season of December are $189-$309; the rest of the year, $289-$589.
Contact: 888-625-5144; www.usgrant.net.
The Greenbrier
The Greenbrier
Where: White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia
A bit of history: Because of the Greenbrier's proximity to Washington, D.C., the government built a secret fallout shelter there in 1962. The shelter was big enough to protect each and every member of the U.S. Congress plus the executive and judicial branches of the government in the event of nuclear war. A secret for 30 years, the bunker is now open for tours.
Fun fact: The healing—and odiferous—sulfur waters that first drew people here in 1778 still bubble out of the spring under the green-domed Springhouse.
The tab: Off-season (January-April, November-December) room rate for double is $245 midweek, $570 weekend. In peak season (May-October) rates are $379 to $770.
Contact: 800-453-4858; www.greenbrier.com
Mohonk Mountain House
Mohonk Mountain House
Where: New Paltz, New York
A bit of history: This National Historic Landmark was built in 1869 by two brothers on 2,200 lush acres surrounding Lake Mohonk in the Shawangunk Ridge. The hotel has stayed in the same family to this day.
Fun Fact: This picturesque resort is the subject of a Currier & Ives print. It was also featured in the Stephen King novel The Regulators.
The tab: Room rates for two adults are $560-$990 per night, including three meals, afternoon tea and cookies, plus activities such as yoga and use of the indoor pool and fitness center. In low season (January-March) a Midweek Winter Getaway is $170 per person per night based on double occupancy.
Contact: 800-772-6646; www.mohonk.com.


text:
Apple's iPad needs its own operating system to become, as CEO Tim Cook has said, "the clearest expression of our vision of the future of personal computing," some analysts argued today.
Cook's characterization -- made in September at the roll-out of the iPad Pro -- was taken up by Jan Dawson, principal analyst at Jackdaw Research, who lobbied for a new operating system largely based on iOS as it stands today.
"If [Cook's comment is] truly the case ... then the iPad Pro can't just borrow iOS from the iPhone," said Dawson in a piece published on Tech.pinions last week. "It needs to have a dedicated operating system designed first and foremost for this device and not primarily for the installed base of 500 million or so iPhones in the world."
In part, Dawson contends that the iPad Pro lacks first-rate support for the optional keyboard Apple sells, and blamed iOS. "It's hard to avoid the sense ... that Apple was somewhat hamstrung in its approach to the iPad Pro by not wanting to break any of the iOS conventions, most strikingly that it should always be a touch-first operating system," he wrote, citing other elements, including the home screen design and multi-app windowing, as areas of possible improvement and enhancement.
Apple has forked iOS several times already, most recently for the Apple Watch (watchOS) and the Apple TV (tvOS), to modify the mobile operating system for vastly different form factors and provide each an optimized UI (user interface). It could do the same to create what Dawson dubbed "padOS."
"Why should we assume that [iOS] is the right OS for all devices?" Dawson asked in a follow-up interview. "Why couldn't they reinvent this like they have for the Watch and [Apple] TV? Is iOS really the best OS for everything from 4-in. phones to something the size of laptop?"
Dawson's point was that it would be well worth Apple's time to find out by building padOS, rather than add to iOS bits and pieces which, while specific for the iPad, in some instances for the iPad Pro, are wasted on the iPhone and vice versa.
"iOS is constrained by all the things that iOS connotes to people," Dawson said. "If we were designing the iPad Pro's [operating system] from scratch, would we really come up with iOS again?" he asked, putting himself in Apple's place. "That's spectacularly unlikely."
Others agreed. "There's a potential for a UI [user interface] more appropriate for a larger tablet that is still worlds simpler than a personal computer UI," said Ezra Gottheil, an analyst with Technology Business Research. "There's space here for a device that is less complex than a PC, but bit more complex -- with keyboard and windowing -- than what a tablet wants to do."
For Gottheil, the iPad Pro -- and other devices like it, often labeled "convertibles" or "2-in-1s" -- is, because of its size, a different beast and not the typical tablet. And it deservs an optimized UI, and thus likely a tweaked if not different operating system.
"By marrying the simplicity of iOS and the hardware of a larger tablet, it could break out of the 'it's just a larger iPhone' paradigm," Gottheil added.
Crucial, he said, were an OS that offers a keyboard-oriented interface, with all that entails, including precision pointing and windowing, or at least the ability to look at more than one thing at a time. The latter doesn't need to be as complex as, say Windows or OS X, with multiple windows that can be layered and shuffled around at will, but could mean halving the screen, or quartering.
iOS 9 offers Split View to the iPad Pro already, as well as other multitask-driven features, such as Slide Over and picture-in-a-picture for viewing video.
All the Big Three operating system makers -- Apple, Google and Microsoft -- wrestle with the problem of finding the best fit of OS and tablet, with the touch-based operation that the latter implies, but which may be largely moot when a keyboard is introduced to make the device more laptop-like.
Google, for instance, recently unveiled its first home-grown tablet, the Pixel C, that can be equipped -- is meant to be partnered -- with an optional keyboard. Google chose Android, not the Chrome OS that powered its clamshell-style notebook, the Chromebook Pixel, and those of other OEMs (original equipment manufacturers), who have done well in education with their more generic models.
Microsoft took a different tack. After a false start with Windows RT, the touch-only offshoot of Windows 8 -- earlier this year, it orphaned those users who had taken up RT -- the Redmond, Wash. company settled on squeezing its full-fledged personal computer OS, first Windows 8, then 10, into its own 2-in-1, the Surface Pro.
Like Apple and Google, Microsoft sells an optional-but-it's-not-optional keyboard with the Surface Pro 4 tablet. But as a marker for the OS running the device, Microsoft's keyboard is the only one of the three companies' to have a built-in trackpad, a necessity, Gottheil said, for keyboard-centric productivity chores.
"It's really about the use case, not the inches," said Brian Blau of Gartner, countering the argument that the iPad Pro -- or any larger tablet -- requires a new or modified operating system. "As the device gets bigger, from the use case profile we've seen, iPad is used in business in a lot of scenarios. And there's a lot of evidence that says it's okay as is."
While Blau acknowledged that when a device is different enough it deserves its own OS -- and that Apple "may be able to add things" to the iPad's skill set with an operating system forked from iOS -- he had not see any evidence from businesses that they balked at the tablet because of its current OS.
"It does raise some questions [including], 'Is iOS fully up to the task of supporting businesses with tablet computing?'" Blau said. "So far, the answer has been mostly 'Yes.'"
In many ways, the issue becomes one of where to draw the line when defining "tablet" and "notebook," Blau added. That line is changing and will become even more blurred down the road. Microsoft, for one, hopes so: It's aggressively promoted the Surface Pro as a tablet that can replace a notebook. Cook questioned in an interview last month why anyone would bother to buy a personal computer after the iPad Pro's appearance.
An operating system must keep pace with changes in a device's use case, Blau contended, but again said that there is not strong evidence that the iPad in general, or the iPad Pro specifically, is now at a pivotal point where iOS is not good enough as is. But that may change.
"Eventually, there will be a tighter coupling between the [desktop and mobile operating systems]," Blau said "I think we've always thought that the more portable OSes will move upstream, but they may not move to the level of OS X and Windows."
By "upstream" Blau meant not only larger form factors -- larger screen, in other words -- but also increased flexibility and thus an expanded portfolio of use cases.
None of the analysts felt qualified to suggest more than the most obvious changes to iOS to optimize it for the iPad Pro. Dawson, for example, would leave that to Apple's experts in UI and OS design.
But like good art or pornography, Dawson would know a suitable 2-in-1 OS when he sees it. And iOS isn't it.
"It's hard to put my finger on it," Dawson admitted when asked why as-is iOS isn't the right operating system for the iPad Pro, why Apple should craft a padOS and risk fragmentation within its tablet line. "But [as to] the lack of keyboard support, to what extent is this because they're trying to maintain the iOS experience?" he wondered.
"How can we take the iPad even further?" Cook asked rhetorically in September before revealing the 12.9-in. Pro.
Maybe by not just making it bigger, but different, Mr. Cook.


text:
What's Korean Cinema? 28 – A Man Who Was Superman
Want to be kicked in the balls, experience complex psychology and be filled with positivity? Korea made one such movie for ya and it's 2008's A Man Who Was Superman. Starring the sassy girl, we'll tell you all about it. With Kenny B and Hangul Celluloid's Paul Quinn.
Running Times:
00m 00s – Intro/Jeong Yoon-cheol biography & discussion
19m 12s – Jun Ji-hyun biography & discussion
48m 41s – A Man Who Was Superman review
Contact the show via email at podcastonfire at googlemail.com, on our Facebook page and Facebook group or Twitter (@podcastonfire, @sogoodreviews) and SUBSCRIBE to our iTunes feed.
Show Links:
Podcast: Play in new window | Download


text:
Puck van Doorn has been promoted by AkzoNobel Surface Chemistry to marketing project manager for personal care applications in Europe, the Middle East, India and Africa. In her new role, van Doorn will be responsible for providing support to a number of regional and global marketing projects initiated by the personal care applications marketing team.
To her new role, Van Doorn brings her experience in business plan development, defining and introducing price strategies and development and implementation of new applications and markets to her new position. Previously, she was a marketing manager for AkzoNobel's industrial chemicals business unit, with additional responsibility for logistics and customer services.
Prior to joining AkzoNobel in 2008, van Doorn worked in the Netherlands in marketing for L'Oréal and as a project manager on the Procter & Gamble account at the marketing communications firm Neroc'VGM B.V.


text:
The Stars of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory Sing Out on Good Morning America
May 10th, 2017 | By Broadway.com Staff
It must be believed to be seen, indeed! Two-time Tony winner Christian Borle, Ryan Sell, Emily Padgett and Tony winner John Rubinstein joined their fellow Charlie and the Chocolate Factory co-stars on the May 10 edition of Good Morning America to preview the new musical for TV audiences. The talented stars sang a pair of numbers from Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman's original score. Give a look at the candy-colored costumes donning the show's misfit characters and head on over to the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre where you can watch Roald Dahl's classic story unfold live.


text: Three people looking for a better life become stranded in the desert with little hope of survival in this drama from Spain. Buba (Adoum Moussa) is an auto repairman living in Niger with his brother Mukela (Illiassou Mahamadou Alzouma); their village is mired in poverty, and given Buba's talent as a football player, they decide to travel to Spain, where they believe Buba might have a shot at playing as a professional. Unable to travel legally into Europe, Buba and Mukela pay a smuggler $1,000 each for passage in the back of a panel truck into Algeria, where the can easily pass into Spain. En route, Buba and Mukela meet Violeta (Aminata Kanta), a teenage girl from Mali who is escaping an arranged marriage with a man she hates. During the trip into Algeria, the three begin to have doubts about the smugglers, and their fears become reality when they're dumped in the desert fourteen kilometers from their destination. Buba, Mukela and Violeta are told that they're only a four hour walk away from their destination, but without navigation tools they finds themselves lost in the sandy plains with no idea of how to make their way to civilization.


text:
Like the rest of Daystars extensive Polyurethane kits, Daystar Spring and Shackle Bushings are an excellent upgrade over stock rubber bushings. They allow less deflection while cornering and can help restore steering feel when used in the front of a vehicle. Like the rest of Daystars Polyurethane products, these bushings are resistant to vehicle fluids and road grime. They also use a unique Polyurethane blend that ensures long life and consistent performance. Daystars 30 years of experience has resulted in the widest selection of replacement bushings that youre going to find. Whether its a vehicle restoration or an upgrade over rubber, Daystar spring and shackle bushings make a difference you can feel.
Greaseable Bolt And Bushing Kit/Spring Main Eyes Only; Black; Rear;


text:
Argentina: The Strange Lights of La Tapera
Argentina: The Strange Lights of La Tapera
Gaceta OVNI (Victoria, Argentina) – Winter 1992
Many claimed that strange lights could be seen at Estancia San Carlos, in the region known as La Tapera. It was for this reason that the place was often visited by UFO followers, although access was not allowed, since it was private property, leaving them with no choice but to stop along the side of a rural road leading to Tres Bocas and leading to Route 11, nearly facing La Pepita. Hunters of vizcacha – a rather large rodent, whose meat is a delicacy - also met at this site, given the animal's nocturnal habits, and which is readily immobilized by shining a beam of light on it. This is why the "vizcacheros" employ powerful beams of light from their pickup trucks to find their prey and render it helpless. Driving through the "estancias" is not allowed without proper authorization, and such nocturnal forays are conducted with special permits or by paying the foreman beforehand.
Since the area is uneven, some visitors think they have seen mysterious flashes coming from under the ground, but these are made by hunters, no less. It was spring '92 when we agreed to meet up at La Pepita with Silvia Pérez Simondini, her daughter Andrea and a group of friends of Mr. César Bretto, who still traveled to the area with the enormous binoculars he fastened onto a bicycle framework. Our group consisted of Paco Martinez, Carlos Ingaramo, Jorge Pietrafesa, Daniel Torres, Pablo Moche and Daniel Lopez. Once we reached the "estancia" (ranch), Bretto remarked on the sighting of a strange light a few days earlier in the interior of San Carlos, and we decided to spend our watch night at the spot. Fierrito Guzmán and the Vaccarini couple from Paraná also joined us.
We parked the cars along the rural road after covering some four kilometers with wide mud ditches, since recent rains had flooded part of the road. Before arriving, Ms. Simondini gave up on the idea of driving any further, fearing that she'd become stuck in the mud patch. But we pushed on, a total of 10 people in three vehicles.
In broad daylight, and from the same point at which we stopped, it was possible to see a smooth hill under a more elevated horizon, extending several kilometers. The countryside, at that time, was made up of sparse vegetation, groupings of shrubs and short trees here and there, and an Australian water tank with a windmill no more than 600 meters away, facing NNW. The terrain had an even appearance, but there are, in fact, uneven surfaces that place the windmill some 10 meters lower than the rural road's height. Beyond this we could see small clusters of shrubs. It is possible to see all of this by the light of the sun, but at night, the surface looks like little more than a thick, black strip. Only a few stars could be seen in the sky along with a timid moon, permanently concealed by passing clouds.
Descending from the vehicles, we approached the field's wire fence among trees five to ten meters distant from each other. Before long, we could make out a distant purplish light, approximately toward the west. Our initial impression suggested a bulb or helmet light, seen at a distance, but its exact location was unknown to us, as this was our first time visiting the site.
Whether or not it came from another ranch, the light remained steadfastly in the same position while some suggested it could be a UFO. There was no choice but to go find the truth, without the foreman's permission or anyone's authorization, and amidst such a darkness that it would be odd if anyone ever heard from us again…or not. For communication purposes, Bretto gave us one of his handheld radios, as he would await any developments at La Pepita, accompanied by the main witness of the Victoria case, Ms.Gonzalbez of Basaldúa. Meanwhile, Pablo had another radio that could pick up communications from aircraft flying over the area, employed to certify the nature of a sighting, should one occur. Given that there were airports nearby, it would be feasible to detect an exchange of radio communications, and thus determine if the phenomenon was merely a conventional flight.
Unfortunately, the device could only receive, not transmit, and for this reason it was decided to employ it in a "special" way during the expedition. We decided that we would reach the purple light at any cost, as we could not remain in doubt. Thus, we formed two groups. One would remain at the base – our present location – and the other would go after the alleged UFO. Since communications would be restricted by Pablo's two-way, we agreed that the explorer group would bring it along. The base would have the transmitter/receiver to advise the explorers of their actual position as they progressed and correct the route taken, if necessary. The second group would reply by means of a previously agreed set of flashlight signals.
So it was that Pablo Moche, Paco Martinez, Carlos Ingaramo, Fierrito Guzman and Daniel Torres would advance across the field while Daniel Lopez, Jorge Pietrafesa and Bretto's two companions would remain at the base. With everything arranged, the second group moved ahead with two flashlights, the camcorder and the handheld radio, penetrating the dark, mud-covered terrain, completely unexplored by anyone. Those at the base followed the flashlights as they grew distant, finally vanishing from sight. The purple light remained in the same place.
Base unit: "Let's perform a test…answer yes if you can hear us." This was followed by three flashes of light aimed skyward – a positive sign.
The explorer group progressed without hindrance, remaining together and in conversation.
Base unit: "You're off the right of the light. Correct your course slightly to the left." Three more flashes of light were seen. All was well. Several minutes elapsed.
Base unit: "We cannot see you. Please indicate your position." There was no response.
Base unit: "If you answered us, we couldn't see your flashlights. Reply and mark your position." No response either.
Meanwhile, the explorer group had stopped at the windmill –25 minutes later – on muddy terrain to cross a series of wire fences after going off in the wrong direction. Carlos climbed to the top of the metal structure to find the position of the purple light, which could not be seen from that point.
Since the moonlight was reflected off the surface of the Australian water tank, Carlos assumed that it could have been the purplish light. A distant light, without any point of reference and with ambient humidity, can prove deceiving. They rested after a rather slow and bumpy march.
Base unit: "We can't see your flashlights. Please reply if you can hear us."
The base station's voice could be clearly heard by all through Pablo's handheld unit. Someone insisted that it was time to make signals. Those at the base were able to see an indistinct flash, an imprecise flashlight signal that did not constitute a definite answer.
Base unit: "Was that a yes?"
The explorer group decided to forge ahead, but Fierrito Guzmán was enveloped by a sensation of fear, and asked that everyone retrace their steps immediately, as he had a bad feeling. Almost not hearing him, the remaining members of the group made ready to go. Seen from the rural road, a light somewhat stronger than a flashlight made an appearance to the right – perhaps a few hundred meters from where the light signal had emanated. This light, similar to a car headlight, seemed to move forward and stop, emitting a sort of reflection before becoming motionless again. Those at the base assumed that it could be a vehicle, maybe a pickup truck. "Hunters," they thought, or what was worse, they had been found by the ranch's owner.
Base unit: "There's a light…can you see it? Have people shown up? Please answer, either yes or no."
Carlos shouted to the group, asking them to listen. Mutual notice was given about the base station's observation, and certain confusion ensued. From the top of the windmill, Carlos could see something like a vehicle. "I saw a light that I thought could come from a pickup truck, but I couldn't see any other light than the white one."
From the base station, the binoculars could only pick up a not-too-distant light source, unable to make out position lights, headlights or even the outline of a wheeled vehicle that could be more than 400 meters away in the middle of absolute darkness. Trying to identify any source of light, and with growing concern, they asked Carlos to descend from the top of the windmill, calmly at first, and then more forcefully.
Fierrito suddenly burst out, asking that the expedition be halted, for God's sake, saying it was dangerous. An inexplicable sense of unease permeated through the air.
Base unit: "We can see a light. Is that you?
The woman accompanying the base unit began to weep inexplicably before the message was finished. She leaned against the pickup truck, holding her face in her hands, saying something awful was happening. According to her husband, she had certain sensitive faculties and could perceive that something very odd was taking place. Not a sound could be heard from the base station, not even to theorize about what was taking place in the distance, in the darkness. Only the cool night air whistling cautiously through the branches could be heard.
Shouts and insults were traded among the explorer group's members. Fierrito issued chaotic pleas, dropping to the ground, begging not go on due to the danger (?). "They can hurt us," he said.
Carlos – also rather forcefully - asked for calm, asking the group to take deep breaths. Since nothing appeared to change, he and Torres walked some hundred fifty to two hundred meters ahead. The alleged pickup truck was there, quiet. Suddenly and unexpectedly, the light dashed horizontally across the ground at high speed, possibly covering 100 meters in two or three seconds.
"They're running."
Concern spread among those at the base station. The woman was adamant about her feelings.
Base unit: "Reply if something's wrong…are you alone?" A new light came alive, a rather bright orb, followed by another one to the left, near the first that had run along. The former returned to its original position. One, two, three lights were now visible…when suddenly a fourth appeared along the same line. The lights moved chaotically, giving the appearance that the group was separated by hundreds of meters from each other.
The first light became more intense. The explorers became confused by the calls from the base unit: "What's going on?! Is that you? Please answer!" -- but they could see nothing from there. A flashlight flash was seen from the ground. "It's the guys", some thought. But who has those lights? One, two, three, four…five lights!
Base unit: "Please tell us what's going on! This is turning in a light show!" But there was no reply.
Base unit: "Answer yes or no. Can you see the lights?" Suddenly, the lights began vanishing one after another after a few seconds. Calm returned to the base station, calm returned to the explorer group. A short while later, the two flashlights were visible during the return trip. The explorers reached the rural road, asking why such a fuss was made when neither lights nor pickup trucks were visible to them at any time – the only light coming from their flashlights.
Their second comment was that they had never reached the purple light. We all looked over the wire fence to ascertain its true position, staring at it for a few minutes before it, too, disappeared. It took us a long time to decipher the facts. The explorers swore that they hadn't seen a thing, except for Carlos, making them think it was likely that there was confusion with their flashlights. That was impossible, said those from the base. All four were in agreement that five lights had been seen and at the distance, the observable flashlight blasts could not compare to the strange manifestations.
As we made ready to leave, a pickup truck went by, evidently armed for nocturnal hunting, and with an upper row of reflectors. Could it have been the culprit? The sense of desperation felt by the woman and Fierrito had occurred at the same time. The reason that made some not want to go any further was also inexplicable, and the possibility that the purple light was caused by moonlight was also unlikely, since the tank – seen by daylight – had a position other than the light, which was toward the left. There was no coincidence…and no explanation. In fact, there wasn't a safe road that a pickup truck could have followed, especially due to the position of the barbed wire fence that the explorers had crossed.
Both reflectors and headlights would have been clearly visible to direct observation, and more so to the powerful binoculars employed by the Vaccarinis. Therefore, the confusion alternative was unlikely. Add to this the fact that the swift advance and retreat by the first light didn't fit in, either.
Five unexplained lights, without beams, had been seen between the explorer group and the base group, no more than 400 meters away, and seen only from a single position. Someone or something had been toying with us in a mysterious fashion.
[Translation © 2013, S. Corrales, IHU. Special thanks to Guillermo Gimenez, Planeta UFO]


text:
UIA launches flights to Izmir, Sofia and Bucharest
Effective Summer 2019 Ukraine International Airlines will extend its South-East Europe network and begin operating its own non-stop scheduled flights to Bucharest, Sofia and Izmir.
Flights from Kyiv to Sofia and Bucharest are scheduled for the beginning of the summer season – March 31, 2019, and from Kyiv to Izmir – effective June 15, 2019. Tickets are available at UIA's ticket offices, the airline's official website, and authorized travel agencies.
Flights from Kyiv to Sofia will be operated daily by Embraer 145 regional jet, and In the meantime, flights between Kyiv and Bucharest as well as between Kyiv and Izmir will be operated by Boeing 737-800 medium haul aircraft.
One-way Economy class ticket prices include all taxes and surcharges and start from 19 EUR* when booked in advance.
At the same time during summer 2019, UIA will increase flight frequency on some routes. In particular, effective March 31, 2019 the number of flights between Kyiv and Dnipro will be increased to three flights a day, the same frequency as between Kyiv and Odessa, the flight frequency between Kyiv and Budapest will increase to twice daily.
"Our plan for 2019 is to keep extending UIA's scheduled flight network. With our new flights, Ukrainian tourists will get the opportunity to visit Bulgaria, Romania, as well as discover new parts of Turkey. At the same time, passengers from these countries will be able to visit Ukraine or use UIA's vast flight network to visit cities of Europe, Asia, Middle East and North America with convenient connections at Kyiv Boryspil International Airport", – Evgeniya Satska, UIA Communication Director says.
*The mentioned price may be subject to change depending on the currency rate and the period of purchase.
Ukraine International (UIA) was founded in 1992. UIA is a 100% privately owned carrier. The airline connects Ukraine with over 50 capitals and key cities of Europe, Asia, America, Africa, the Middle East, and CIS countries and provides connections with its international partners' flights to over 3,000 other destinations worldwide. Currently, UIA operates 45 aircraft including 30 medium haul Boeing 737 NG aircraft with the average age of 8.7 years. UIA fleet's average age amounts to 11.3 years. UIA operates over 1100 scheduled flights per week. The base airport for UIA is Kyiv Boryspil (KBP). For more information on UIA visit the company's website www.flyUIA.com
Ukraine International Airlines Press Service
Tel/fax: (044) 238 26 97,
Email: firstname.lastname@example.com